avlis

if you aren't converned about disk space then archive without compression. The long history of audiophilia is full of people who are sure that they can hear differences. I would love to be able to do well degisned double blind tests on what they can hear. I have even heard audiophile reject such testing saying that one must listen repeatedly for an extended period of time to fully evaluate a format--you can't win with them. FLAC and ALC, like Meridian LC on DVD-As, have been shown to render bit perfect copies. To the objective mind this means that they ought to sound alike. I'm pretty sure even some errors could be tolerated. Try an A-B comparison for yourself and see if you can hear a difference. If you can't, why worry about it?

The really humerous irony here with regard to audiophiles demanding bit-perfect copying of CDs, is that most true aduiophiles deplore CDs and had hoped that DVD-A or SACD would give them sound they could live with--well neither have been a great commercial success athough there are some outstanding recordings available.